Sir Stephen Watson, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, has said that official anti-racism guidance has contributed to the perception of two-tier policing, though he rejects claims of anti-white bias. Speaking after the murder of Henry Nowak, which sparked riots in Southampton and accusations of unequal treatment, Watson acknowledged that the idea of two-tier policing is now widespread but not justified.
Watson criticised the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) 2025 anti-racism commitment, which advises officers to treat individuals differently based on ethnicity. He said policing had “over-corrected” and adopted “the language of activism,” allowing the impression that forces are not impartial. The NPCC is reviewing the guidance following the backlash.
The senior officer, tipped as a potential successor to Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley, urged forces to be “a little less timid” in emphasising their impartiality. He stressed that police should not use anti-racist language implying an activist role, as this fuels public distrust. Watson previously gained attention for instructing officers not to take the knee during Black Lives Matter protests in 2021.
Watson warned that British policing faces its biggest challenge in decades, with “distrust, disorder and division” more evident than since the 1980s. He said widespread disorder could recur this summer due to social media amplifying inflammatory rhetoric, but stressed that police must avoid “fuelling the fire.”
